Garcilaso de la Vega

Garcilaso de la Vega, KOS (c. 1501 – 14 October 1536) was a Spanish soldier and poet. Although not the first or the only one to do so, he was the most influential poet to introduce Italian Renaissance verse forms, poetic techniques, and themes to Spain.

He was well known in both poetic and military circles during his lifetime, representative of the contemporaneous motif of las armas y las letras, and his poetry has continued to be popular without interruption until the present. His poetry was published posthumously by Juan Boscán in 1543, and it has been the subject of several annotated editions, the first and most famous of which appeared in 1574.

Biography

Garcilaso was born in the Spanish city of Toledo between 1498 and 1503. Clavería Boscán affirms he was born between 1487 and 1492, and another source affirms he was born in 1501. His father Garcilaso de la Vega, the third son of Pedro Suárez de Figueroa, was a nobleman and ambassador in the royal court of the Catholic Monarchs. His mother's name was Sancha de Guzmán.

Garcilaso was the second son which meant he did not receive the mayorazgo (entitlement) to his father's estate. However, he spent his younger years receiving an extensive education, mastered five languages (Spanish, Greek, Latin, Italian and French), and learned how to play the zither, lute and the harp. When his father died in 1509, Garcilaso received a sizeable inheritance.

After his schooling, he joined the military in hopes of joining the royal guard. He was named "contino" (imperial guard) of Charles V in 1520, and he was made a member of the Order of Santiago in 1523.